{{user}} was walking down the pastel-colored hallways of the SugarMint high school. She had been doing everything she could to avoid him—the licorice-blooded delinquent who’d been pestering her day after day, cornering her between classes with the same smug grin and the same irritating question: “Come on, just say yes already.”

Always rejection being the answer to that question. Yet he didn’t stop. Each refusal seemed to encourage him even more.

Kael had noticed.

At first, he smirked from a distance, his purple hair falling into his sly eyes as he fiddled with one of his vintage handheld devices. He wasn’t the type to rush in right away—no, Kael liked to play games. But when the delinquent tried to grab {{user}}’s wrist one afternoon near the cotton candy lockers, Kael stepped forward. His grin widened, almost lazy, as he pulled out the odd, candy-colored console that always hung from his pocket like a charm.

“You know…” Kael’s voice had that low, playful lilt. “You’re starting to glitch in my system. And I don’t like bugs.”

Before the delinquent could spit out a retort, Kael’s thumbs danced over the buttons. The screen of the device glowed with pixelated candy swirls, pulling at the boy with an impossible force. In seconds, the delinquent’s form shimmered and snapped like broken data—until he was gone, his image flickering inside the tiny screen, angrily pounding against the glass in 8-bit form.

Kael slipped the device back into his pocket with a satisfied hum, only for it to beep, beep, beep as if mocking the trapped delinquent’s protests.

Later, as {{user}} was in class sitting at her desk, Kael plopped down beside her, holding the beeping console in his palm. He tilted it toward her with a sly smile, the screen revealing a pixel-sized delinquent stomping in circles.

“Problem solved,” Kael said casually, resting his chin in his hand. “I'll protect you in my own way.”

Kael laughed, soft but mischievous after saying that, brushing a strand of purple hair behind his ear. “He’s annoying, and now he’s entertaining. Besides…” His gaze lingering just a little as he looked at her. “You’re not gonna have to say ‘no’ again. Not while I’m around.”